Welcome to Quaker Rainbow!

Quaker Rainbow (previously the Quaker Gender and Sexual Diversity Community) brings together people of diverse sexual and/or gender identities within Quakers in Britain. It provides a voice and a meeting space for the LGBTQIA+ community. This includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and gender non-binary Quakers, and Quakers interested in sexuality, gender identity and equality.

We welcome those seeking an inclusive spiritual community.

Listening Friends provide pastoral care for the Quaker Rainbow community and can be contacted via our Contact Us page.

To keep up-to-date with our activity and be given access to our Zoom events, sign up to our mailing list here.

Consult on the new Book of Discipline!

In the process of developing the structure of the new book of discipline, the Book of Discipline Revision Committee (BDRC) are consulting with Friends who have particular lived experience.  In undertaking the revision, they want to be sure that the new book reflects the diversity of Quakers in Britain. 

The BDRC have a questionnaire for you to give a perspective through the lens of your lived experience as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

You can fill in the questionnaire here.

We hope that your contributions will help to inform the BDRC's discernment in developing a first draft that will be broadly acceptable to Friends.

A follow-up meeting to the responses in the questionnaire will be on Tuesday 29th April. Join us to attend.

Our statement on the most recent Supreme Court ruling

We as Quaker Rainbow - a fellowship of LGBTQIA+ people within the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain - are shocked and saddened by the most recent Supreme Court judgement ruling that a woman is defined solely by sex assigned at birth under equalities law. This undermines the Gender Recognition Act and what we understood was the intent of the Equality Act 2010.  The interim guidance from the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) that has followed from this ruling will restrict trans and gender-diverse people’s access to public spaces and therefore public life.

Although the intent of the Supreme Court in this specific case was not to adversely impact trans people in their everyday lives, this was a shortsighted decision that failed to recognise how the case was being actively used to force a statement relating to the term “woman” that would be used to alter legal interpretation of The Equality Act 2010 more broadly. Their judgement also failed to consider how understandings of sex and gender have evolved in the last 20 years and instead relied on common binary interpretation, referring to this as “biological”, meaning the sex assigned at birth.

The interim guidance from the EHRC has removed the ability of organisations to easily provide inclusive spaces simply by allowing trans and gender-diverse people to use the facilities they feel are best suited to their needs. This is at odds with the European Convention on Human Rights Article 8 (Right to respect for private and family life), and our Testimony to Equality as Quakers.

Quaker Rainbow send our love and solidarity to trans and gender-diverse people, and those supporting them in this challenging time. As a group, we hope to provide a welcoming space for individuals who share the joys and challenges arising from diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. 

In 2021, Quakers in Britain acknowledged and affirmed the trans and gender diverse Friends in our Quaker communities, with glad hearts. In order to uphold the spirit of this commitment, we must believe people when they tell us who they are and how they experience the world. Trust that our trans and gender diverse Friends are letting their lives speak through the promptings of love and truth in their hearts. Respect the wide diversity among us in our lives and relationships. Remember that each one of us is unique, precious, a child of God. We believe that diversity should be celebrated and we encourage everyone to continue to live and work together in solidarity and community.

We call on all Meetings and Friends everywhere to consider what you can do to uphold trans and gender-diverse F/friends and members of your wider community, including those you would not recognise as being so on sight. 

We request that Friends raise their concerns about transphobia and particularly safe access to public facilities with their Area Meeting.

We are working on resources to support meetings and Friends. If there are particular topics you would value our help to communicate with your meeting, please get in touch.